Red
by SmilingZebra
Summary: Natasha has been shot and Tony, Clint, Steve and Thor panic more than she does. Please review and tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

Gunshots sounded from every direction.

"Clint, watch your back!" The archer spun round and hit a man square in the chest with an arrow. "Got him." He replied smugly. Clint looked to his right at Natasha, who was currently showing a gunman how skilled she was with her thighs round his neck. The man soon fell to the ground and Black Widow moved to her next target. He smirked and was about to make a smart remark when suddenly Iron Man's voice rang out through the room. "DUCK!"

Each Avenger looked up from their previous position and without a second thought crouched to the ground. A repulsor beam shot out from the armour's chest plate and hit the remaining gunmen down and out. Iron Man stood tall. The facemask lifted to reveal a toothy grin from the billionaire. "Ok, I'm not going to brag or anything but.. HOW FUCKING BADASS WAS THAT?" Tony beamed at his crouched team mates.

"Ok sparkie, that was pretty cool but don't let it go to your head..oh wait, too late." Hawkeye stood, and flicked Tony hard on the forehead. The billionaire let out an undignified yelp and glared at the archer. "Alright Birdbrain, if you think you can.." Tony started but was soon interrupted by a sharp feminine voice.

"Boys, if we can hold off the bitch slaps for five seconds that would be nice." Natasha gracefully stood up from the concrete ground and pushed the loose curls from her face. Tony and Clint looked at Natasha, then each other and then back to Natasha, "Sorry." They both mumbled in unison. Steve and Thor were next to stand up after being previously hid behind Natasha's small frame. "Is that all of them?" Steve asked cautiously indicating to the bodies sprawled around the room. Tony's ears perked up at the question and he answered "By the looks of things we rounded them all up in here, so I'm guessing the answer you're looking for is yes." The billionaire stood side by side with the Captain and stared at the mass of bodies.

Suddenly a voice appeared from the comms. "You guys get them all? Is anyone hurt?" Bruce's tone sounded concerned. The team had decided the Hulk wouldn't be needed for this particular mission; Bruce was still recovering from being battered and bruised after Shield's latest assignment for them all. The scientist had argued but soon was convinced that he was able to help the team over the comms.

"Looks like it. No one's injured too badly, just some scrapes and bruises." Steve scanned his team members fondly. "We'll double check the warehouse just in case we missed anything." The Captain gestured towards Thor, "We should really.."

"Guys." Natasha's voice echoed. The team spun round to the redhead. Her eyes were currently fixed on the figure in the doorway. Tony's eyes locked on the man and he extended his armoured hand forward. Repulsor beam at the ready, the man in the doorway spoke up. "I never wanted this. I should have stayed away from these people. They're killers. I'm not..I'm..I'm a killer." The crazed man's hand left his pocket to reveal a gun. His breathing was ragged and uneven, appearing to get worse with each tense second. Everyone remained still. "I don't understand how this happened to me. I..I.." The man's eyes suddenly settled on Natasha. "You've got red hair." A manic giggle left the crazed man and then his features turned dark. "She had red hair." His arm extended so quickly that no one expected it, until it was too late. A shot rang out. Black Widow fell to the ground.

The room suddenly came to life with movement. A repulsor beam shot out and blasted the man into a faraway wall. Clint and Thor sprang into action and crouched beside the fallen female. "NATASHA!" The God placed Natasha's head on his lap while Clint inspected the damage.

"It's always the crazy ones, isn't it?" Natasha choked out. Two petite hands were pressed to her abdomen. Red bubbling between her fingers. Clint removed her small hands and replaced them with his larger ones. "Shit, I could use a drink." She whined. Tony appeared near her head looking paler than she had ever seen him. "Don't suppose you've got any whiskey in that suit of yours, do you?" Tony's eyes snapped to hers and he looked sick. Steve's panicked voice was in the distance.

"Bruce, we need medical here now. It's Nat, she's been shot and it doesn't look good, we.." Steve was panting now, his eyes never leaving the ground. Suddenly there was a hand running through her curly hair. Natasha's eyes looked up to see Thor biting his bottom lip and looking sad. _Thor should never look sad _she thought.

"Jesus. Steve, how long they gonna be?" Clint panted. His hands were still putting pressure on Natasha's stomach. Blood covered his hands and his breathing was laboured. Suddenly Steve appeared next to Clint. "They're ten minutes out." His eyes were locked onto Clint's bloody hands. "She barely has ten minutes." Clint barked. He shifted the position of his hands and a spike of pain ran through Natasha's body. Her body twitched and seized as a fire erupted in her side. "Fuck!" she cried and suddenly several pairs of hands were holding her down. "Nat, you have to stay still." Clint pleaded. Natasha's body began to settle, "Fuck you." She whispered.

"Who'd wanna fuck him?" Tony joked shakily, his thumb stroked Natasha's shoulder repeatedly. Natasha suddenly erupted into a fit of giggles and Tony felt sick. "She's laughing. Shit, she's actually laughing at my jokes. Clint, do something!" Clint caught Natasha's eye and he had sweat dripping from his forehead. She watched him curiously. "Sweaty bastard." She smirked. Clint's eyes lit up and he let out a breathy chuckle. His eyes moved from her face back to her injured stomach. The chuckle faded.

The hand carding through her hair sped up and it made her sleepy. Her boys were by her side looking after her. She smiled weakly and allowed her eyes to slip closed.

"Oi! Don't you dare, sleeping beauty!" Her eyes opened to slits and Tony's frightened face came into view. Steve was now beside him looking lost. "Look at the pretty super soldier! Look at those golden locks!" Tony ran his hand through Steve's hair and the Captain didn't even move; his eyes were glued to Natasha's face. Tony looked frantic now. "Obviously not as good as Thor's beautiful mane, but beggars can't be choosers." Natasha smirked. The God gave Tony a confused look and the billionaire stared back sadly. Tony's eyes made it back to Natasha's face. "Keep your eyes open, please."

Natasha stuck her tongue out at the genius and he winked weakly at her.

"Shit. Where the fuck are medical?" Clint whispered, more to himself than anyone else. Natasha was so tired. The pain in her side was deafening and black patches were beginning to fill her vision. She tried weakly to keep her eyes open but it soon became too much. Voices sounded as her eyes slid shut and she gave into the darkness with the knowledge that her stupid boys were there.


	2. Chapter 2

_Antiseptic. Uncomfortable bedding. Mechanical beeping. Shit._

Natasha sluggishly moved towards wakefulness. Her senses came alive and declared a terrible observation. She was in hospital. The redhead groaned internally. _Fuck._

Vague memories of the incident bounced into her head. _Shooting. Positive boom. Crazy dude. Negative boom. _Focussing on the steady beeping of her heart monitor, her eyes slid open and immediately closed again. Her eyes weren't adjusted to the extreme light conditions of the room. Eventually Natasha was blinking sluggishly and the room swam into focus. And so did Thor's concerned expression that was inches away from her face. The god's eyes immediately lit up and a grin crossed his face. "NATASHA!" The demigod was practically jumping up and down now; she couldn't hold back a smirk.

Movement to her right caught Thor's attention and the god beamed. Clint soon came into focus with a soft smile across his face. "What time do you call this?" Natasha gave out a tired chuckle and the room shook with Thor's deafening laugh. She was about to respond when a voice interrupted her.

"I call anytime, a Tony time." Natasha's eyes soon spotted the billionaire leaning against a wall near the door. She rolled her eyes tiredly, "A Tony time?" Her voice was barely a croak.

The archer near her head snorted. "Do Tony times include you crying on the sofa watching Bambi? Cause that really was quite memorable." Clint propped his feet up on the bed and arched an eyebrow at Tony. Thor let out another enormous laugh.

The man in question crossed his arms and pouted, "I was drunk and that was one time, asshole!"

"One time too many, if you ask me." A smirking Bruce appeared in the doorway. Tony glared at the scientist and rolled his eyes dramatically. Bruce shook his head and moved towards the foot of the bed and grabbed a chart. "You gave us a scare, you know. How you feeling?" The man fixed his glasses and looked at Natasha calmly.

The question caught the redhead off guard and she took time to really think about the question and then replied with a simple, "I've felt worse." She twisted her head to Clint and gave him a knowing look. "Remember Egypt?" The archer automatically shuddered and bit his lip. "Way too much sand." Natasha let out a snort and simply nodded. Suddenly she remembered something was missing.

"Where's Cap?" Her eyes scanned the room and settled on a chuckling Tony. The brunette stepped forward and leaned against the foot of the bed. "Bit of a long story." The genius smirked at Bruce, who rolled his eyes. "Cap is currently with a pissed off Coulson trying to figure out who the hell that crazy guy was. Last time I checked, Coulson was threatening a Shield agent with a spoon. Apparently he couldn't find his taser gun." The genius suddenly looked smug. "I wonder where it could have gone." He lifted his arms dramatically and sent a wink in Natasha's direction. The female shook her head and was about to say something when she broke out into a chesty cough. She closed her eyes against the pain and bit her tongue. When her eyes reopened, a glass of water was held out in front of her with a pink bendy straw. Natasha reached out gratefully but the hand connected to the glass didn't let go it just extended further to her face. Clint gave her a sharp look, "Don't sit up." The redhead shot a menacing glare at her partner and leaned forward slightly to sip the water through the straw. The cool liquid was heaven on her sore throat and she couldn't help the relaxed sigh that left her mouth. Her eyes closed involuntary and she began to doze off. A soft voice sounded next to her ear, "Sleep well, Nat."


	3. Chapter 3

"Ok, I've got coffee or tea, what do you..CLINT!"

The archer woke suddenly and wiped the drool from his face. "What? What's wrong?" Clint stared incredulously at the billionaire currently standing in the doorway.

"Where the fuck is Nat?" Tony gestured wildly to the empty hospital bed. Clint's head twisted to stare at the bed that was indeed empty. He spent several seconds gaping and then turned to the only other person in the room. "Shit!"

Tony stepped further into the room and dropped the hot drinks onto the table. He looked down at the crumpled sheets. "Mother fucker! How the hell did she get out?" The genius rubbed his forehead tiredly and bit his bottom lip. He stared at the archer who was currently looking disorientated. "How the hell did she get past you? You're supposed to be an assassin, for god's sake!"

Clint let out a long groan and slumped back into the white hospital chair. "I don't know! I was talking to her and then she said Steve brought me coffee. And then..then.." The two men suddenly stilled, they stared at each other gapingly. Clint rolled his eyes, "Ah shit. She drugged me." Tony rubbed his eyes harshly. _Shit._

"Brothers!" Thor's large frame appeared in the doorway, grinning like madman. He looked at the men's slouched postures and blank facial expressions. "You should not be looking so gloom. We should be celebrating! Lady Natasha looked most cheerful when she passed me in the hallway!" The god smacked Tony on the back and laughed loudly.

Clint and Tony paled. In unison they both stared shocked at the demigod. "She what?" The billionaire spat, eyes wide. Thor glanced at his team mates, a confused expression painting his face, "She walked by me in the hallway. When I asked of her current health, she smiled most largely and then presented me with this." The god lifted a half eaten Square's Bar, "I took the bar gratefully then when I went to thank her on her kindness, she had disappeared." Thor nodded to himself. He turned to look at his friends. "She looked very.." The god suddenly stopped as he noticed Tony and Clint's expressions. They both looked a mixture of sickness, anger and embarrassment. Thor glanced at them, splitting his gaze between the two men equally. Out of nowhere a thought popped into his and he frowned greatly. "She was not supposed to leave yet, was she?" Thor licked his lips and stared at the ground. Tony and Clint both shook their heads slightly. The demigod peered at the empty hospital bed. "Oops."

**Avenger's Tower**

"Purple Rain? No. Sign o' the Times? Definitely not. The Batman Soundtrack? Throw it. Dire Straits? Throw it. Ooh, Stone Roses? Um, no. Second Coming? I like it! Ahh! Sade? Yeah, but that's Liz's! Yeah, but she did dump you. Oh!"

The lights were dimmed and the heating was on full blast. Colours from the television screen decorated the furniture and created a comfortable and familiar atmosphere for the room's occupant. The only noise filling the room were from Shaun of the Dead on the big screen and the occasional chuckle from a petite form on one of the couches. Natasha was currently curled up with her feet up on the cushions. She was dressed in a jumper that definitely wasn't hers and sweat pants. A blanket lay sprawled over her body as her eyes were trained on the television. She released a pleasant sigh and attempted to move more onto her side but pain soon emitted from her wound and stopped the movement. Natasha groaned internally. Injuries don't happen to her. She's always careful and efficient. She's too experienced for this to happen. _I'm the Black Widow, for god's sake. _

Her thoughts roamed back to the incident that put her in this position. _"You've got red hair. She had red hair." _Natasha closed her eyes and allowed her head to rest against the back of the couch. _Who was he referring to? Who was 'she?" _The redhead shook her head several times and opened her eyes. Her eyes shot back to the film as she tried to focus on something else but the incident. _"I should have stayed away from these people. They're killers. I'm not..I'm..I'm a killer." _The female bit her bottom lip and stared at her hands. _Was he referring to the gunmen? Or was it someone else entirely? _Natasha was drawn from her thoughts by a voice sounding from the elevator.

"What the hell Nat?" The redhead rolled her eyes. _They're quicker than I thought. _She was about to respond when another voice broke the silence. "You drugged me! You actually drugged me! Again! You promised in Mexico that you wouldn't drug me again!" Natasha allowed a small smirk to cross her feminine features at her partner's whiney voice. She opened her mouth to respond but again she was interrupted. "The hospital hasn't given you permission to leave! This is dangerous. You don't have a tummy bug Nat, you were shot!" The female gave up on trying to respond and turned her attention back to the screen. Apparently she wasn't allowed to watch zombies getting their assed kicked as four angry faces blocked the screen. Tony had his arms crossed and a pout crossed his lips. Steve had his Captain America face on and was currently staring at her concerned. Bruce looked calm but his twitching right hand betrayed this illusion. Clint's expression was her favourite. His face was beetroot red, his eyes were wide and intense and his foot was tapping the ground in a 'pissed off' manner. Suddenly the sofa dipped to her right and she looked up to see Thor's guilty expression. He gently grabbed her hand and placed an empty Square's Bar wrapper into it. "I ate it all." His face resembled a puppy and Natasha couldn't hold back a snort at the absurdity of the scenario. She gripped her stomach and leaned forward enough to kiss his cheek. "It's fine." She whispered quietly into his ear. She grimaced slightly as she lay back down. Thor smiled sadly.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Clint barked and Natasha was suddenly reminded of her current situation. She closed her eyes slowly, "I was bored." Silence followed and she reopened her eyes to see four gaping expressions and a smiling Thor.

Steve broke the silence. "You were bored! You were bored? You were shot!" The super solder gripped his hair and tugged pointlessly. The redhead stared blankly at the standing men. "I've had a lot worse in the past. I'm not a flower, Steve. Yes, I left that hellhole too soon and no, I'm not going back. So if you can all close your mouths before you catch something in them, that'd be nice." Four mouths snapped closed. "Good. Now, if you don't mind I'm gonna go to bed and do try not to fight too much ladies." She winked then turned to the man sharing the couch with her. "Fancy carrying me?" Natasha smiled softly at the demigod and Thor chuckled. "It would be my pleasure, Lady Natasha." Thor stood up and placed one arm under Natasha's legs then the other carefully under her back. Picking her up slowly as to not irate the wound he walked out of the room with a smug redhead in his arms.

The four men currently standing in front of the television looked at each other. Tony stared back at the doorway, "I don't know about you guys but I certainly feel whipped right now." Several grunts of agreement sounded back as the men continued to stand shocked. Clint cleared his throat, "Well I'm not arguing with her." The team mates nodded and went their separate ways, not willing to fight with the female's wants.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Please, please don't do this."_

_The little blonde girl turned the other way. Her face was unreadable; a clever mask put in place to trick the world when they wanted her to. "__Перестань плакать__"__._

_The man in the corner paused his crying. His breath was held in anticipation and fear. Blood and sweat decorated his body as he sat with his back to the wall, knees to his chest. The man sniffled, "What?" his voice was shaky and pathetic. _

_Golden locks flew through the air as a small head twisted to stare at the crying man. A smirk, contrasting with her angelic features, appeared. "I said, stop crying." Two green eyes refused to blink. She walked slowly towards her discarded bag on the table, opening it and checking the contents. Her back faced towards her victim. _

"_Why are you doing this?" The girl's movements froze. Her posture remained alert. The man on the ground was staring at her. She could feel it. "__Это моя работа__.__" Her movements started again. _

"_I don't understand, I'm not-" Suddenly the young girl was facing him. Eyes locked. She took one step forward. "It's my job." Her victim curled in on himself. He looked so small. She turned back to the table and continued. _

_With the girl's back turned away from him, the man attempted to silently stand up. His hands found the wall and he lifted his weak body from the ground. He started moving towards her. Right foot. Left Foot. _

"_Don't you dare." _

_He slumped back, his body hitting the wall. The little girl turned towards him, gun in hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Her voice was youthful yet menacing. Two petite hands grasped the gun, turning it over and aiming. The man let out a cry and sunk to the ground, defeated. "Who are you?" _

_The girl looked sad then, but only for a second and then it was gone. "__Я__Черная Вдова__.__" She took a step forward when the man looked confused. "I know, you don't understand." Another step forward. "I said.." Another step. "I'm the Black Widow." __**Boom.**_

A deafening scream filled the silence. Natasha woke suddenly, her body shooting up from where she lay in her bed. Pain exploded in her stomach and she sank back down. Her hands clutched her abdomen as she took deep breathes. The redhead's skin was covered in sweat and she was mildly aware that her body was trembling. Noises sounded in the hallway outside her door and in her crazed state she immediately recognised it as danger. Her body twisted slowly enough for her to open the drawer near her head and pull out a gun. The door burst open loudly and the gun remained pointed.

"Shit!" Tony stopped his movements and put his hands up. Clint budged in front of him, "Nat, what's going on?" The female was still breathing heavily. Steve appeared next to Tony and now all three men were staring at her. The gun was still pointed at them. Natasha looked at her weapon and slowly put it down. Clint stepped forward, "Stay there." Her voice was croaky but sharp.

The archer froze not taking his eyes off her. "What happened?" Natasha tensed slightly still gripping her wounded stomach. Tony's eyes fell to her abdomen, "Do you need us to get Bruce?" His voice sounded different. Soft. Not his usual playful tone.

The redhead secured her mask back in place. Face now blank and eyes calm, the way they should be. "I'm fine." She tried to sit up straighter. "You can go now."

"We're not leaving you-"

"I said I'm fine!" Natasha barked. "Now go." Her usual strong demeanour was slipping.

The three men looked taken aback. Natasha's outburst having shocked two of them. Clint remained stock still then let out a small sigh. "Ok, come on guys." He turned round and gestured for Tony and Steve to exit. Both men eventually looked defeated but knew not to argue with the redhead. Before the door slipped closed Clint's voice whispered into the darkened room.

"Вы знаете, где я нахожусь."_ You know where I am. _

Natasha closed her eyes and sighed loudly. She lay back down and punched the mattress in anger. They'll be on her case tomorrow because she's not strong enough to run away from her memories. She pulled her blanket up further and settled in for an uncomfortable night.


End file.
